Cross Country

Cross Country Gets Six Top-20 Finishes at Redlands

Sep 02, 2018

REDLANDS, Calif. (Sept. 1, 2018)– The Caltech men's and women's cross country teams are off to a strong start once again after placing six runners inside the top-20 between the men's and women's races at Saturday's Redlands Invitational. Caltech, along with host University of Redlands represented the SCIAC in a field that included Division II and Division III teams from around the west coast.

"The first time we get to put our uniform on each year is always exciting," Head Coach Ben Raphelson said. "I thought the team raced with poise and channeled their excitement well."

The men's 6K race featured four Caltech top-20 finishers with junior Simon Ricci (Chicago, Ill. / Latin School of Chicago) taking top billing with a ninth-place finish. Ricci completed the course in 19:31 while classmate Tanner Moore (Roseville, Calif. / Oakmont) came in just four spots behind the junior (19.44.50). Freshman Gaurav Phanse (Fremont, Calif. / Dublin) made a successful debut for the Beavers, finishing third among Caltech runners and 17th overall (19.57.50). Sophomore Spencer Morgenfeld (Palo Alto, Calif. / Palo Alto), meanwhile, had his improvements on full display, squeaking in as the fourth Caltech runner to achieve top-20 status on the men's side (20:12.20). Senior Rohan Choudhury (Cupertino, Calif. / Monta Vista) and sophomore Matthew Earney (San Diego, Calif. / Del Norte) rounded out the top-six for the Caltech men with a 20:43.4 and a 21:05 respectively. Collectively, the men came in third place out of the seven competing teams.

The women, meanwhile, had two finishers inside the top-20, starting with sophomore Claire Hu (Palo Alto, Calif. / Henry M. Gunn), who like Ricci came in ninth in the women's 4.5k race. Hu crossed the finish line in 17:14.70, while classmate Molly Crotteau (Chicago, Ill. / Payton) rounded out Caltech's top-20 runners with a 17:55.30 to finish 17th overall. Freshman Alex Bardon (Boston, Mass. / Winsor School) debuted third among the Caltech women, finishing the race in 18:43.30 while coming up just shy of the top-20. Sophomore Sirisha Gudavalli (Boulder, Colo. / Fairview) and freshman Jamie Littman (Port Washington, N.Y. / Paul D. Schreiber) posted times of 20:17.1 and 20:19.1 to cross the finish line consecutively.

"We certainly have plenty of work to do, but today was a positive start," Raphelson said. "We like our potential over the longer distances that we'll be racing going forward."

Raphelson and the Beavers will have a week off before returning at the UCR Invitational in Riverside, Calif. on Saturday, Sept. 15.